This year, the LSU coach will have to chew quickly if he wants to finish eating before the early evening. His Tigers once again will travel to Kyle Field to face Texas A&M in the Aggies' new holiday tradition.

The last week of the season has been reserved for A&M's fiercest rival -- which used to be that team in Austin that wears burnt orange. In the final four meetings between the two schools, the game was on the third Thursday in November, much like it was for most of the 20th century.

Now that rivalry is defunct, and LSU has moved into the role of presumed No. 1 foe. But Miles and the Tigers hesitate to supplant the Longhorns as A&M's Thanksgiving rival. When the teams closed the 2015 season in Baton Rouge, the game was on a Saturday.

"Thanksgiving's always such a nice day to chew your food and relax as opposed to bouncing out on a football field and getting after it," Miles said Thursday as the Southeastern Conference media days wrapped up.

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LSU senior center Ethan Pocic, unlike his coach, relished the moment to reflect about the Tigers' 2014 game in College Station. That Thanksgiving Day game was a new experience for him.

"I never played on Thanksgiving before," Pocic said. "In high school, I always got eliminated like the week before."

LSU has won the last three meetings in late November and the last five contests against the Aggies.

A&M's renewed series with LSU and other SEC foes was one of the benefits of moving into the conference for the 2012 season. But one of the drawbacks is the absence of a true rivalry game.

For many years, that rivalry game was on Thanksgiving. Maybe one day, LSU and A&M will play annually on the holiday and become an anticipated staple on the schedule.

Then again, maybe some traditions are better left in the past.

"I can't imagine it makes any difference when we play," Miles said. "It's going to be very contended, a very difficult contest."

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Freeze defends program amid investigation: Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has fervently defended the way he runs his program as talk about the NCAA's notice of allegations gained attention in the offseason.

In January, the Rebels were formally told they were being investigated for illegal benefits given to football players. The scrutiny around the program escalated when offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil admitted to receiving benefits after messages that appeared to show him asking an Ole Miss administrator for money were leaked when Tunsil was drafted this spring.

In front of the media Thursday, Freeze said he accepts responsibility for any future NCAA sanctions but defended his ethics.

"I have zero interest, zero interest, in cutting corners to be successful, and our staff knows that very well," Freeze said. "I have a lot of things that I'm not very good at, but that is not a temptation."